Updated

03/21/2014 - 10:45am

When Afghanistan holds elections on April 5, young voters could make all the difference. So this year, instead of an arts festival, the government created a music competition around the elections. The requirement? You had to write songs with lyrics about voting. And what came back was often rap.

In Afghanistan, it is hard to paint a picture of what decades of war and unrest have done to the country. The BBC has chosen to try, by traveling Highway 1 - the two-lane road that, in better times, would connect two-thirds of all Afghans.

Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai has announced the seven areas of the country, about one-fifth of the Afghan population, which will soon pass from control by foreign troops into Afghan hands. The BBC's Quentin Sommerville reports.

Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai has announced the seven areas of the country, about one-fifth of the Afghan population, which will soon pass from control by foreign troops into Afghan hands. The BBC's Quentin Sommerville reports.

In Afghanistan, it is hard to paint a picture of what decades of war and unrest have done to the country. The BBC has chosen to try, by traveling Highway 1 - the two-lane road that, in better times, would connect two-thirds of all Afghans.

Updated

03/21/2014 - 10:45am

When Afghanistan holds elections on April 5, young voters could make all the difference. So this year, instead of an arts festival, the government created a music competition around the elections. The requirement? You had to write songs with lyrics about voting. And what came back was often rap.

In Afghanistan, it is hard to paint a picture of what decades of war and unrest have done to the country. The BBC has chosen to try, by traveling Highway 1 - the two-lane road that, in better times, would connect two-thirds of all Afghans.

Updated

03/21/2014 - 10:45am

When Afghanistan holds elections on April 5, young voters could make all the difference. So this year, instead of an arts festival, the government created a music competition around the elections. The requirement? You had to write songs with lyrics about voting. And what came back was often rap.

Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai has announced the seven areas of the country, about one-fifth of the Afghan population, which will soon pass from control by foreign troops into Afghan hands. The BBC's Quentin Sommerville reports.

In Afghanistan, it is hard to paint a picture of what decades of war and unrest have done to the country. The BBC has chosen to try, by traveling Highway 1 - the two-lane road that, in better times, would connect two-thirds of all Afghans.

Updated

03/21/2014 - 10:45am

When Afghanistan holds elections on April 5, young voters could make all the difference. So this year, instead of an arts festival, the government created a music competition around the elections. The requirement? You had to write songs with lyrics about voting. And what came back was often rap.